What happens after you call 911?

When you call 911, your call is answered by an emergency call-taker whose first responsibility is to find out if this is a true emergency-is someone injured, is there a crime in progress, is there a fire, etc. If it is an emergency, the call-taker will handle your call.

What should you do after you call 911?

What happens call 911 hang up?

All 9-1-1 hang-ups from landlines shall be called back by a call taker. The call taker will attempt to contact the caller once, if necessary, and determine the nature of the incident and an accurate location for the appropriate public safety response.

What happens to your cell phone when you call 911?

When you make a 911 call on a cell phone, you are sending signals through the air. The tower that picks up your phone's signal may be near or not. That's not enough information for the dispatcher to find you. It's like playing "Marco Polo" in the pool when you're blindfolded and only have sound to guide you.

What happens after an emergency call?

The operator will ask what your emergency is, and then will ask for other information needed to get you help, such as your location and phone number. If your call is an emergency, based on the information you give the operator, you may be transferred to the police, fire department, or ambulance.

What Actually Happens When You Call 911?

When should you hang up from a 911 call?

Your 9-1-1 call taker will stay on the line with you to make sure your call is answered by the agency you need. Don't hang up until the call taker says it's okay to. Know your location at all times and communicate it when you are asked.

Does 911 know your location?

Despite most contemporary cell phones being equipped with GPS capabilities, that information is not automatically sent to emergency services when you call 911. Voice calls only send location through cell networks and towers as described above. The data exchange can, at best, take seconds or sometimes minutes.

What does 911 see when you call them?

When you dial into 911: The signal goes to the phone company's database. There, it finds out the information that you supply the phone company when you start your service. Then your signal, along with the information is sent to us in the form of Automatic Name and Location information (ANI/ALI).

How does 911 know what city you are in?

Here's how they explain it: When you call 911 from your cellphone, the dispatcher does not see your actual location. Instead, dispatch centers have to ask your wireless carrier for your location information. The location information comes from a cell tower, which could put you miles away from where you actually are.

Can 911 operators track your phone?

Most people expect for 911 call centers to be able to track your location, but it doesn't quite work that way. Wireless carriers provide a signal to EMS that determines your location. But in this special report, we share why it's not an exact science and why they have to depend on your phone company to locate you.

What happens if you accidentally call 911 and don't say anything?

What should I do if I accidentally dial 911? If you dial 911 by mistake, or if a child in your home dials 911 when no emergency exists, do not hang up – that could make 911 officials think that an emergency exists, and possibly send responders to your location. Instead, simply explain to the call-taker what happened.

What happens if you call 911 and don't answer?

If you hang up without saying anything, a dispatcher will call back to confirm that there is no emergency. If you don't answer, a police officer will be sent to your location to confirm that you are okay.

Can you get in trouble if you accidentally call 911?

Everyone makes mistakes, and there is no penalty to accidentally calling 911. The Communications Dispatcher will want to verify your name and address, and ensure that there is not a real emergency. If you do hang up, they will call you back to confirm that you are safe.

Is it better to call 911 or go to the hospital?

According to the CDC, calling 911: Is like bringing emergency room resources to your door. No matter how quickly you think you can get to your local ER, first-responders can probably get to you faster, using lights and sirens to cut through traffic if necessary, and potentially start treatment right away.

What is the first question a 911 operator asks?

What's the emergency? What's wrong? Where is the emergency? Give the address, include building number, apartment number, nearest cross street.

When you call 911 who comes first?

When you call 911, your call is answered by an emergency call-taker whose first responsibility is to find out if this is a true emergency-is someone injured, is there a crime in progress, is there a fire, etc. If it is an emergency, the call-taker will handle your call.

Can an ambulance track your phone?

Emergency calls made from mobile phones can now tracked to a radius of 30 metres or less, drastically cutting the time it takes to respond. Currently it is only possible to locate calls from mobiles to within a few square kilometres, with operators taking valuable seconds to determine the location of the caller.

Is it OK to call 911 and ask questions?

This needlessly burdens the 911 system with non-emergency calls and prevents call takers from answering true emergency calls. Do not call 911 to ask for directions, obtain a phone number of another County agency, or to contact a police officer, Sheriff's deputy or fire fighter.

Can 911 be texted?

Text-to-911 is the ability to send a text message to reach 911 emergency call takers from your mobile phone or device. However, because voice calls to 911 provide more information to 911 call centers, you should always make a voice call to 911 during an emergency whenever possible.

Is 911 free in USA?

There is no per-call charge for calling 9-1-1. However, EMS/ambulances dispatched through 9-1-1 may charge for taking someone to the hospital; this is a separate ambulance charge, not a 9-1-1 charge.

How do emergency services find you?

If you need to call the emergency services (999) from an Android device, Google automatically provides your GPS location.

Does 911 have to take you to the closest hospital?

Patients can ask an ambulance to go to a specific hospital even if it is on diversion. The ambulance will take a patient where he or she requests — unless, in the view of the paramedic crew, doing so violates local or state protocol or would endanger the patient.

Is calling 911 the same as calling the police?

Both of these lines are answered at the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP, or a 9-1-1 call center) of the police department or sheriff's office, but they should not be used interchangeably. To put it simply, 9-1-1 should be used during emergencies while the 10-digit number should be used in non-emergency cases.

Do 911 calls have priority?

Anything in progress is top priority. A home burglary in progress is dispatched before a home burglary that occurred last night. Anything that is life-threatening also takes top priority. A fight with weapons (anything wielded against another person is considered a weapon) is dispatched before a verbal dispute.

How many times does the average person call 911?

In an average year, around 240 million 911 calls are made in the U.S.² That averages out to over 600,000 calls per day.